Remember when Russia was an officially atheist country? It is no longer.
Donald Trump promises that when he is President the United States will no longer be an atheist country either.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholics in Knoxville do this too, or something like it. The priest throws the crucifix in the Holston River, (or rather, it's a branch of the Holston) and the teen boys all jump in and try to find it, which means of course they have to go feel around with their feet--- or if it's more than head-deep, go to the bottom! The young fellow who finds it is the hero of the day, of course: much laughinbg and back-slapping, and everybody chanting and doing metanias.
Of course the Holston is nowhere near as cold as the Neva. Usually no ice, even.
One thing in this great video surprised me: the girls!! I never thought girls would have been allowed to do this, especially in Russia.
Well, times change...